Category Archives: ISRO

NEW DELHI: With Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) set to launch another bunch of satellites — Cartosat along with 30 nano satellites — from the Sriharikota launchpad on Friday, the number of spacecraft missions launched by the space agency till now will go up to 90. However, not all these spacecrafts are operational now but are still in space.

Though Isro’s main objective is to make satellites functional once placed in orbit, protecting them from space debris is also the top priority of the agency.

Space debris is the collection of defunct man-made objects in space — old satellites, spent rocket stages and fragments from disintegration and collisions.

These space debris can really be dangerous as they travel at a speed of up to 30,000 km an hour, which turns even tiny pieces of junk into deadly shrapnel that can damage satellites, space shuttles and even space stations.

However, Isro relies on a slew of methods to safeguard its assets in space. The agency is a member of Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee(IADC), which makes global efforts to reduce man-made and natural space debris. The primary objective of IADC is to exchange information on space debris among member space agencies, to facilitate opportunities for cooperation in space debris research and identify debris mitigation options.

Tapan Misra, director of Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre (SAC), said, “IADC alerts a respective space agency when any satellite of that space agency is in danger due to space debris.”

Isro also banks on its sophisticated Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR), operational since 2015, to track space debris. Tapan Misra said, “The state-of-the-art radar, developed at our centre, can track 10 objects simultaneously of size 30cm by 30cm at a distance of 800km. In case of objects of 50cm by 50cm size, the radar can track at a range of 1,000km.”

The space agency is also making efforts to reduce space debris by going for mass satellite launches. After the successful launch of a record 104 satellites in one go on February 15, Isro is gearing up to launch 31 satellites, all packed in PSLV-C38, from Sriharikota on Friday.

The SAC director said, “With use of one rocket for multiple satellites, Isro is actually helping reduce space debris”, as each rocket spent in space adds to space junk.

Explaining the process of rockets becoming space debris, Dr K Sivan, director of Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said, “The fourth stage of rocket once launches a satellite into its respective orbit becomes useless. This fourth stage, which contains some propellant, could be dangerous as it could explode and add to space debris. But we ensure this stage doesn’t explode as we have fitted a mechanism whereby this stage automatically deactivates and de-pressurises itself after it places a satellite in its orbit and completes its mission.”

As of July 5, 2016, the United States Strategic Command had tracked a total of 17,852 artificial objects in orbit, including 1,419 operational satellites. As of July 2013, over 170 million debris smaller than 1 cm, about 670,000 debris 1-10 cm, and around 29,000 larger debris were estimated to be in orbit.

Isro has been tracking its spacecrafts 24×7 to eliminate the danger of space debris hitting them.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has unveiled plans to gradually make its regional satellite navigation system global — akin to powerful position-telling systems such as the U.S.’ GPS and the Russian GLONASS.

ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said four of the seven Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) satellites are in orbit and the last three spacecraft would be added in orbit by March 2016. The IRNSS would provide self-reliance in the strategically important area of position-related information, he said at a users’ conference on global navigation satellite systems on Thursday.

The focus now was on completing the regional constellation and extending it to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries. “After that we will look at taking it gradually over the entire globe, may be in less than a decade. It could be done by adding a set of regional satellites over adjoining countries. We are working towards this with other countries – [South] Korea and the Gulf nations, to name a few,” Mr. Kiran Kumar said.

The signals from the regional system were already available 1,500 km beyond the borders.

In April this year, ISRO and the Airports Authority of India also completed GAGAN, focussed on airlines, airports and the civil aviation sector but applicable to land and sea-based services. GAGAN enhances the GPS-derived details of location and time of objects or persons.

Both IRNSS and GAGAN, he said, would drive an unlimited set of personal, public and industrial users, from transportation, railways, forestry, farming, agriculture and security. Around 200 navigation receiver sets built by industry and using ISRO design would be out soon.

Riding high on the success of epoch-making Mars Orbit Mission in September 2014 and space rentry capsule in December and IRNSS-1D achieving own navigation system in March, ISRO is not letting its determination lie anywhere down now.

The next ISRO mission will entail sending DAWN-like spacecraft to probe asteroids, said ISRO chairman A.S.Kiran Kumar on Monday, while attending the 24th convocation at Sathyabama University. The university is developing nano-satellites for the next Mark III mission.

Dr Kiran Kumar listed three important future missions which are essential and prestigious for ISRO such as sample return mission, asteroid mission and lander mission.

The advisory committee on science chaired by Prof U.R. Rao will go through the discussions and decide what kind of plans ISRO should have in future, he informed. For now, he said ISRO would launch disaster monitoring constellation satellite for Surrey space technology.

He repeated again that in June India’s Mangalyaan mission would be obliterated as earth, mars and sun would align on the same line and hence there will be no communication with Mars Orbiter Mission for at least 14 to 15 days. However, the MoM will be on its autonomous mode, he said.

On forthcoming GSLV Mark-III launch vehicle in 2017, he said it would carry a full satellite of about 3,500 kg and the rocket will make its first orbital flight – designated D1 – with the GSAT-19E spacecraft.

Like this:

In a major milestone, an indigenous cryogenic engine, that will help India put satellites of upto four tonnes in geostationary orbit, was tested successfully at ISRO’s propulsion complex at Mahendragiri in this district.

The powerful version of the cryogenic engine was successfully ground tested at the Liquid Propulsion systems centre (LPSC).

The test was conducted for 635 seconds and it was successful, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre sources in Thiruvananthapuram said.

ISRO sources said its chairman A S Kirankumar came to Mahendragiri this morning and the testing started at 4.30 pm.

A team headed by Director D Karthikesan led the testing.

Congratulating the space scientists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a “proud achievement” the successful testing, saying this would help India put satellites of up to four tonnes in geostationary orbit.

“Congratulations to our space scientists for the successful testing of our indigenous cryogenic engine,” he tweeted.

In a separate tweet, Modi said, “The engine tested today will enable us to put satellites of up to 4 tons in geostationary orbit. A proud accomplishment.”

UPSC-2013 AIR-1 Gaurav Agrawal(IAS): Khelo India

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